Police believe accidental shooting injured Madbury woman Saturday

Police, firefighters and emergency personnel responded around 7 p.m. after receiving a report that the woman, Ashley Smith, 25, sustained a gunshot to the leg at her home at 309 Knox Marsh Road. Knox Marsh Road is Route 155 in Madbury.

McGann said investigators believe the incident occurred while her husband, Jeffery Smith, 27, was showing her his new 9 mm pistol.

"Right now, it appears to be a truly accidental shooting," Madbury Police Chief Joseph McGann said, adding the matter remains under investigation and will eventually be reviewed by the County Attorney's Office.

McGann said crews from McGregor Ambulance transported the woman, who sustained non-life threatening injuries, to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover. He said her husband, who was very cooperative, drove to the hospital to be with her.

"There was no exit wound - so it wasn't in and out," McGann said.

Regardless of experience or training, McGann said police hope everyone with a weapon always treat it as if it's loaded, keep it pointed "down range" and away from other people. "When you own firearms, there's a certain responsibility that comes with it," McGann said, adding all gun owners should complete a gun safety course and stay up to date with procedures and the law.

McGann said there are many qualified and certified weapons safety classes in the area. He added he usually refers local residents to take a course at Major Waldron Sportsmen's Association in Barrington.